My Mother, the Other
by bobt
Summary: Daniel Faraday is captured by Island hostiles in 1954 and is brought to a thermonuclear bomb he volunteers to disarm. The young woman escorting him at gunpoint somehow seems eerily familiar! A short fanfic based on the scene in Season 5 ep3 Jughead.
1. Chapter 1

" _Your gift, Daniel, is your mind.  
_ _A mind that is meant for science and mathematics.  
_ _And it's my job to keep you on your path."  
_ _-Eloise Hawking  
_

* * *

Daniel gets marched out of camp and into the jungle, coerced at gunpoint by the angry teenager behind him. He looks over his shoulder to peak back at her, his glance met with a death stare and a command to keep moving. He feels the aim of her rifle like a bayonet poking the skin of his back. Even from behind, she'd pull the trigger without hesitation. She's only waiting for the opportunity; one word; one suspicious move. She's a fighter still in training; a young believer in the Island's sacred cause. The rest of her people are indeed ruthless. They slaughtered an entire battalion of Army soldiers. One by one, pretending to be of them, living amongst the soldiers in their own tents and military garb, until overtaking them all. Infiltration is what the Hostiles do best. It's what they'll do eventually in Dharmaville and with the Oceanic 815 survivors. Ever since the beginning of their time on the Island, killing those unlike themselves is what they do to survive.

Daniel stays calm and thinks over his position. He loosens his tie and unbuttons the top of his collar. No matter what the situation, he's uncomfortable lying. He told Richard Alpert they're not soldiers, only innocent scientists working for the U.S. military. Fortunately it's a lie sprinkled with bits of truth. Daniel qualifies as a scientist and so does Charlotte the anthropologist. Miles, the mind reading ghost whisperer, is a meta-physicist of sorts. It's certainly a stretch, but all three may pass if further questions get asked. Most importantly, their story only needs to hold until the sky lights up again and moves them on to their next adventure.

He marches on while looking up to the blue open sky, hoping soon for the bright light and signature high pitch jingle. He forgets to look down as the terrain changes to rockier ground; he stumbles for a moment, dropping his physics journal as he catches himself.

"Perfect," she says, sliding the rifle sling to her shoulder. "The scientist whom we've entrusted to dismember a bomb is a fumbling cluts."

She kneels and skims the pages of the journal. "What is this?" she demands. "Instructions to take apart a bomb or detonate one?"

"Please." Daniel nervously extends his hand, hoping for its safe return. The equations and instructions are far too valuable to be in the hands of someone who could easily rip it to shreds. "It was a gift from my Mother."

"In that case," she replies in a sarcastic voice, raising a single eyebrow. "I suppose if your dear mother were here now, she would advise you to do exactly as you promised; disarm the bomb."

"Of course she would," Daniel replies bowing his head, graciously receiving his journal back.

 _If only she were here_ Daniel ponders to himself. It was only hours ago, his timeline of course, when he asked Desmond Hume to deliver to her an urgent message. It was a bold and desperate move. After several minutes of banging on the hatch, Desmond swings the door open madder than hell, sweating profusely in a bright yellow hazmat suit, more trigger happy than the gun toting girl he's walking with now. Daniel was so nervous he didn't have the time to say his mother's name. Hopefully, Desmond will put the pieces together as to who she is, and she'll begin the complex process of time travel rescue.

In the meantime, they're all stuck in 1954. Perhaps if time flashes again to a more convenient time, Daniel will be able to personally deliver his urgent message to Eloise all by himself. He's quite aware she spent lots of time on the Island in the years before he was born. In the late 1960's she was appointed leader to a group of scientists living on the Island. Early 60's late 50's she visited the Island over summers at her Michigan University's gifted "science" camp. It's even remotely possible that the current year 1954 she could be here now, although she would be quite young.

Daniel glances again to the gunman; she's more relaxed with her finger off the trigger, aiming the rifle at his side. A sudden familiarity about her sends a chill up his spine. He glances every so often, observing her as subtle as possible. Each glance confirms his suspicion. Deep blue eyes. Height 5 foot 3 or 4. Short elflike ears. A sharp dip below her lips, creating a shadow across her chin. Hair as golden as in her early photographs. Her posture; perfect as a soldier.

"Why do you keep looking at me?" she asks, tightening her grip on the rifle.

Daniel looks forward, acting oblivious. "No, no..I'm not..I'm only…"

"You are."

Daniel knows he's busted. He takes a deep breath before gesturing his hands in a surrender. "You know, you're right. I'm sorry." He pauses, taking another breath, doing everything he can not to reveal his conclusion about her. "It's just that, you look so much like….somebody I used to know."

She squints both eyes, staring suspiciously. "Someone other than the girl you just professed your love for? My, aren't you the Romeo."

"Far from it, believe me," he replies, walking ahead of her again. It's ironic really; the same woman who did everything she could to keep him from romantic relationships is accusing him now as a player.

She raises her rifle to her shoulder and aims squarely at his head. "I don't believe you by the way."

Daniel freezes after hearing the rifle cock behind him.

"You may have Richard fooled, but you really can't expect me to believe that you, a British woman, and a Chinese man are all members of the United States military. Who are you and what are you doing on our Island?"

He remains cool as he considers his next move. His story is quickly unravelling due to the teen's insight, although it's safely contained away from everyone else back at camp. Although she detects he's hiding something, their situation really hasn't changed; she's brought him out to the bomb, and he's the only person on the Island with the knowledge to disarm it.

"Do you want to know who I am?" He lifts his chin high and struts directly toward her, ignoring her empty threats of gunfire. "I am your best chance at disarming that bomb."

She takes a couple steps back, still aiming in his direction. There's not a question she can ask to test his scientific credentials. She realizes that no matter who Daniel says he is, most likely they share a common goal of survival.

"Alright," she says, pointing her gun down into the valley. A massive bomb sways in the breeze, suspended by rope inside a wooden tower. "Disarm it."

* * *

 **To be continued! More action and dialogue to come! I'm thinking 2 or 3 chapters tops...I'm sure many of you remember this unforgettable scene...there's plenty of gaps to be filled in before time flashes once again! -bobt**


	2. Chapter 2

" _Time-it's like a street. We can move forward on that street,  
_ _we can move in reverse, but we cannot ever create a new street.  
_ _If we try to do anything different, we will fail every time.  
_ _Whatever happened, happened."  
_ _-Daniel Faraday-_

* * *

Daniel tenses immediately after seeing the bomb hanging inside the wooden tower. He volunteered to disarm the bomb believing it was accessible from ground level and laying on its side. Unfortunately, a bomb tower is used strictly for the purpose of detonation. It's quite possible its timer is already set and ticking down. Daniel's first instinct is to grab his young mother and run for the other side of the mountain; but his logical mind quickly takes over, allowing him to act rationally.

"Whatever happened, happened," he whispers to himself, closing his eyes and inhaling through his nostrils.

Firstly, fifty years from now the Island is still intact; so logically, the bomb never detonates. Even if the timer is set, he's either able to disarm it in time or the bomb itself malfunctions. Fate can be fickle as Ben Linus once said, but in this case, foreknowledge of the future can be comforting. The worst case scenario is the bomb explodes with a malfunction; a first stage explosion which isn't enough to cause the full scale nuclear chain reaction, but could certainly kill anyone standing within a thousand feet. But even this minor explosion couldn't possibly happen, because it would kill his young mother standing beside him; and logically, his mother has to live, _because he's alive_.

This is all true of course, assuming the woman holding the gun _actually is his mother._ Daniel looks at her one last time before approaching the bomb; he's beginning to doubt his conclusions about her. Right now it would really help if he _knew for sure_.

"So," Daniel nervously mutters, his voice cracks like a teenage boy. "Your name's Elli, right?"

The ridge of her nose wrinkles showing frustration. "Richard told you, didn't he?" she asks, annoyed that Richard can be so trusting with strangers.

"Nope," he replies, walking away, amused by the mystery in her head he just created.

She follows him curiously with her rifle still aimed into his back. "What kind of scientist are you anyway?"

"A physicist. I study…you know…energy, time, electromagnetism…"

She prods him with the rifle barrel, irritated with his vague response. "I see. You think you're an Einstein?"

"More of a Faraday, actually," he replies with a smug grin.

She looks up to the swaying bomb and wisely points the rifle away from its vicinity. "Ok, then…let's see if you can disarm it, Mr. Faraday."

"Please," he pauses before climbing the ladder up the tower. "Call me Daniel."

He reaches the platform and examines the bomb's exterior, checking for open panels and loose rivets. A hydrogen bomb detonates in four distinct stages; stop the first one and you stop them all. He locates the trigger control panel, but before reaching inside it's best to continue checking for breaches. The man he saw in the camp with burns to his hands was somehow exposed to radiation; if none of the panels are open, he must have been exposed some other way. Daniel's suspicion is right; he leans over and spots a line of corrosion along a seam. He steps away and descends the ladder in a hurry.

"Back up!" he warns while approaching Elli. "It's unsafe and we need to move."

She takes a couple steps back then raises her rifle. "I swear, if you try anything."

"If I try anything? What? You're going to shoot me?" Daniel pleads with her, raising his hands to show he means no harm. "Yeah, that would be perfect…because of course…rifle fire right next to…what would you call this? Hydrogen bomb. Yes fantastic idea. Really inspired."

She keeps her rifle lifted, still not convinced.

Daniel continues to instruct her realizing the urgency. The bomb may never explode, but if radiation continues to leak from it for years to come, the Island will certainly have a less visible, more underlying problem. "Ok, listen to me. Do you people have any access to lead or concrete?"

"For what?" she asks.

"There's a crack in the casing. It needs to be filled with lead. Then you need to take it off this platform, carefully." He gives the OK hand signal with his index and thumb then points down to the ground. "Then bury it."

She grits her teeth, quickly losing patience. "You brought me all the way out here to tell us we have to bury it? You told Alpert you could disarm that thing!"

"You don't need to worry. You do what I say and it won't go off," Daniel tries to assure her.

She questions his logic immediately. "How do you know that?"

"I need you to trust me."

"I don't trust you."

"Just bury it," he says, more as a challenge to prove he's right. "Bury it and everything will be fine. Remember your superiors…."

"How can you be so sure?" she interrupts.

"You want to take care of this bomb?" Daniel's losing patience as he struggles to explain himself. "You bury it!"

"But how do you know that?"

He mistakenly lets down his guard and reveals the entire truth. "Because fifty years from now this Island is still here!"

An awkward pause of silence. She reengages the bolt of her rifle. "What did you just say?"

"Woah, take it easy," Daniel pleads, both hands raised, keeping firm eye contact. "I can explain myself a little better. I know how it sounds. Believe me. It's hard to explain. Fifty years from now, me and my friends, that's where we're from, OK? And, here's the key; everything's fine. I'm not saying it's perfectly fine, but's there hasn't been any atomic blast, alright?"

Sawyer suddenly exits the jungle behind her. "Drop the gun, blondie!"

"It's OK, she's OK. You can put your gun down," Daniel tells Sawyer, hoping not to lose the little trust he gained with her.

Sawyer remains firm. "She puts hers down first."

Juliet strolls out of the jungle next with machete in hand. "Why don't we all put our guns down?"

Sawyer senses the girl holding Daniel hostage is considering options. He acts quickly before she can make a move. "I said drop it!" he commands, centering his aim to her chest.

She drops the rifle and raises her hands in surrender.

Sawyer looks down into the valley at the bomb swaying in the Island breeze. "Son of a bitch."

Elli turns to Daniel and divulges the ridiculous story of time travel. "Are they from the future too?"

"You told her?" Sawyer replies with a sneering stare. When it comes to science, Daniel's the master at problem solving; but dealing with people he's not nearly as sharp. Fortunately, street smart Sawyer arrives at the right time to come up with a plan.

"Ok, I'm taking charge here. Blondie you're coming back with us to your camp," Sawyer explains, shifting his bangs back from his eyes.

"Well, are you?" she asks, demanding an explanation.

"From the future? Yeah, so…what's it matter? Even if you're stupid enough to believe it, you think the rest of your people will?" Sawyer flings the rifle over his shoulder, confident she won't make another move. "Locke's probably telling Richard the same thing, which means we need to get down there fast before he gets himself killed."

Elli places her hands to her hips, refusing to walk any further. "I'm not going anywhere until you people can prove to me who you are."

Juliet eyes Sawyer with her typical long judgmental stare. She turns to Ellie with an artificial smile, blinking her eyes like an animatronic Disney mannequin. "Quinquaginta annis Ricardus deducet me ad insulam explorasset," she explains.

Elli raises her eyebrows, impressed. "So you're one of us, eh?" She looks to Daniel and Sawyer, disappointed in their silence, realizing they didn't understand a word Juliet just said. "But obviously they're not. Maybe you're a traitor."

"Elli, please. There's nothing any of us can say to prove to you who we are. We know details from the future, which nobody can substantiate because…the future hasn't happened yet," Daniels explains, full of expression, flailing his hands with every word. "You have to believe me. Because if you do," he says, centering his hands to his chest. "You may be able to help us."

"Help you? But how?" she asks.

"Fifty three years from now, the year 2007, a man named Desmond Hume will come and visit you. This is extremely important OK?" He emphasizes with an index finger pointing up. "Desmond is uniquely special. The rules of time travel don't apply to him. You'll need to convince him to go with you to Ann Arbor Michigan, to an organization called the Dharma Initiative."

"Michigan? I'm not going there with anyone! It's too bloody cold! You people are strange!"

Sawyer points to the trail back to the camp. "Alright genius. Fun's over. You had your chance. It's time to hustle back to camp and rescue Locke before it's too late."

Suddenly, Daniel pulls a pistol from his backpack and holds it to Elli's stomach. "You want me to prove to you we're from the future. Well, this is the only way."

Juliet steps closer, begging him to consider. "Daniel, think about what you're doing. These people don't understand how we got here."

Daniel closes his eyes, inhaling deep breaths through his nostrils. "Whatever happened, happened," he whispers to himself. He tightens his finger to the trigger until…

**BANG!**

* * *

 **Hope everyone is enjoying! More to come! -bobt**


End file.
